I haven't worn out mine stock tires yet, but I am not that happy with them when I get into mud.

I am looking for input too. I put a post out on 26" Blackwaters Vs. 27" Blackwater XTs and have heard little. I am concerned about clearance and performance with the 27" tires.

I don't spend the majority of my time in mud but there is a good amount of mud holes on the trails. I would like a very good all purpose tire and the Blackwater looks to be it. Also the oversized tires would give me some additional ground clearance. The more I ATV the more I learn, ground clearance isn't everything but it's huge!

 

27" blackwaters will fit on your stock machine with stock wheels. No clearance problems. I have them on mine and there is a noticable difference. I went through mud holes that stopped my with the stock dunlops. Blackwaters put me right through. By the way, I found out the over heating problem was due to mud packed in the backside of the radiator. Couldn't see it from the front. Dealer had to pull the radiator to clean it out. Also told me that I can use a pressure washer on the radiator. Owners manual says not to for fear of bending the fins. Anyone else use a pressure washer to clean out the radiator?? I run through quite a bit of deep mud and water, someone else on another post said to use an air conditioner filter in front of the radiator to keep out the mud. I'll give it a try and keep you posted.

 

Dave, what are the Blackwaters like? Any noticable loss of ride/handling on different kinds of terrain?

Why did you go with the 27" xt's over the 26"? How much did you give for yours?

Thanks

 

c4drm...I bought these tires from a friend of mine who rides a foreman 450. He is going to Vampires. As far as why the 27's, that is simply because that is what he had. If I were to purchase new, I would probably still go for the 27's. The XT is only those letters used as traction on the sides of the tire. What I like is the extra height. I got almost 2" additional ground clearance. The traction difference over stock is very noticable. And of course as you already know, more ground clearance can never hurt. Performance wise, I feel more stable on the wider tires. When I had my machine in high gear, wide open at 53mph, I could feel the bike sway back and forth. This does not happen with the blackwaters. I did loose 3 mph with the beefier tires, but I didn't buy a 4x4 for speed so that doesn't really matter. I also run 7-8 psi in the tires. This lifts me more. I only ran 3-4 in the stock tires to get more of a print. With the wider tires, I get a wider print, higher clearance and don't have to worry about breaking the bead. I only paid $60 each because they had about 300 miles on them and I bought them from my riding buddy. The cheapest I have seen them is $87 for the 27" XT. That was at national tire and wheel (natltire.com) Hope this helps with your decision.

 

Dave, last question...well maybe. Why did your friend trade the xt's for the vamp's.

Thanks for your help

 

He sold the blackwaters for Vamps because he really likes the swamps and DEEP mud. As I'm sure you know, blackwaters are not a strictly mud tire. They are a great all around tire and really out perform stock in the mud. He wanted aggressive mud tires....Vampires. We live in NW Pennsylvania near the Cochranton Poker Run. I don't know if you have ever heard of that. There are over 7,000 ATV's at this event. There are some pretty decent mud holes that can suck in a stock tire 4x4. We also ride the poker/dice runs in Salamanca, NY...same story. He never had any complaints about the blackwaters, it even took some persuasion from me for him to get rid of the blackwaters for Vamps (I didn't want to buy new). You can't go wrong with blackwaters unless you want to ride in 24" deep thick mud and swamps all the time. Go to www.highlifter.com for more conversations about these tires. Tire discussion usually sparks a heated conversatio.

 

Much thanks for your help Dave, I'll go with the 27" Blackwaters.

 

Let me know how you like them after you get them. I couldn't be happier with mine. I was in some really deep mud this weekend with them. I made it through 3 times, but we tore the hole up pretty good. My fourth time, I got stuck. My buddy also got stuck with his 27" Vampires, so that can give you an idea of what this hole was like. One thing is for sure, with the stock dunlops, I wouldn't have made it through once. There was a girl there on a kawasaki with the same dunlops. She didn't make it. She hit that hole in 2nd gear wide open and almost made it. I've got to hand it to her for her effort. Tires instantly loaded and looked like racing slicks. I was able to creep up to her in low range and drag her out. Hope you have as much fun with your new tires.

 

I'm thinking of getting the Quadmaster and was wondering what you folks would reccomend for a winch and mount for my snow plow?